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Self‐reported stress and risk of breast cancer
Author(s) -
Roberts Felicia D.,
Newcomb Polly A.,
TrenthamDietz Amy,
Storer Barry E.
Publication year - 1996
Publication title -
cancer
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.052
H-Index - 304
eISSN - 1097-0142
pISSN - 0008-543X
DOI - 10.1002/(sici)1097-0142(19960315)77:6<1089::aid-cncr13>3.0.co;2-y
Subject(s) - medicine , breast cancer , oncology , cancer , risk assessment , gynecology , computer security , computer science
BACKGROUND Many women attribute the development of their breast cancer to psychosocial factors such as stress and depression. Yet investigations of the relationship between breast cancer and stressful life events have had inconsistent outcomes, due in part to studies with small sample sizes and reliance on hospital‐based populations. METHODS As part of a population‐based, case–control study of breast cancer etiology, we evaluated the association between stressful life events and the risk of breast cancer among 258 breast cancer patients and 614 randomly selected population‐based controls. Information on 11 stressful life events was collected in telephone interviews with women aged 50–79 who were participating in the ongoing study. RESULTS Breast cancer patients and controls experienced the same number of stressful life events in the five years prior to diagnosis or an equivalent reference date (controls), averaging 2.4 and 2.6 events, respectively. After adjustment for known breast cancer risk factors, there was no association between weighted stressful life event scores and the risk of breast cancer (odds ratio [OR] = 0.90 per unit increase; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.78–1.05). Only one life event, death of a close friend, was significantly more often reported by controls (OR = 0.72; 95% CI, 0.52–1.00). Other life events were inconsistently and nonsignificantly associated with breast cancer risk. CONCLUSIONS The results of this retrospective study do not suggest any important associations between stressful life events and breast cancer risk. Cancer 1996;77:1089‐93.